Life-saving apparatus



(No Model.)

J.GREENBR.

LIFE SAVING APPARATUS.

Patented Nov. 26

35x05 Greener, i

' 1. ANDREW BYGRMIAM. PKOTWUTHQWASHINEMDI- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB GREENER, OF ELMIRA, NEWV YORK.

LIFE-SAVING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,343, dated November 26, 1895.

Application filed April 10,1895. SerialNo. 545,213. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JACOB GREENER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elmira, in the county of Chemung, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Life-Saving Apparatus, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in life-saving apparatus designed to be carried aboard ship to be used in case of shipwreck or disaster where it becomes advisable or necessary for the passengers or crew, or both, to leave the ship.

It has for its object, primarily, to provide a simple contrivance carried on the vessel and designed to be readily brought into operative position when it is desired to launch the lifeboatas, for instance, during heavy seas, where under ordinary circumstances and by the usual appliances the launching of the lifeboat is a dangerous and almost impossible proceeding.

The invention embodies a sack designed to be attached to the boom or derrick, to the outer end of which boom or derrick the lifeboat is designed to be mounted, so that in case of disaster the lowering of the boom deposits the life-boat on the water at a distance from the vessel and the sack is brought into position coinstant with an exit in the side of the vessel, and thus the life-boat is not only launched ata safe distance from the vessel, but a safe and protected passage is provided for the occupants of the vessel therefrom into the life-boat. \Vhen one boat-load has been conveyed from the vessel, the boom or derrick may be hoisted and another boat suspended therefrom and launched in a similar manner until all are saved. The sack may be permanently or detachably secured to the boom or derrick and the latter lowered or hoisted in the usual way.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear,and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, with the lettion and partly in elevation, showing the device in position for use.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in both of the views.

Referring now to the details of the drawings by letter, A designates the hull of the ship, B

one of the masts, and O the boom or derrick,

of the usual or any desired form, having at one end a sleeve or ring D, embracing the mast and sliding thereon, while suitable ropesand pulleys E E are provided for raising and lowering the boom or derrick in the usual manner. The outer end of the boom or derrick is providedwith any suitable meanssuch, for instance, as the hook F, shown for receiving and supporting the ropes or stays G, by which the life-boat H is suspended therefrom.

I is a sack of any suitable material and formsueh, for instance, as stout canvas or the like-being open at both ends and attached to and hanging from the boom or derrick in any suitable manner either by permanent or detachable fastenings,and when not in use may be left in its open condition, as seen in Fig. 1, or furled and tied in a manner well known to seafaring men. The ship may be provided in its side with an exit J, closed by the closure J.

Ordinarily the boom or derrick,with its sack and life-boat, is lifted out of the way and held lengthwise of the vessel. When it is to be brought into use, it is lowered and brought around into a position substantially transverse of the length of the vessel, as seen in Fig. 2, .and lowered until the boat strikes the water, one or more persons, sailors or others, being first placed in the boat and lowered in it to man the same, and then the people upon the vessel have simply to pass through the.

sack into the life-boat, as will be readily understood from Fig. 2. When the life-boat has been filled, the sling is disengaged and the boom or derrick,with the sack, hoisted and another life-boat suspended from the outer end, and it maybe again lowered to be again filled.

The boom maybe lowered so that the boat will rest upon the water or it may be held suspended at a distance above the same until the boat is filled up, the persons passing through the sack and afterward lowered.

Of course the exit may be omitted and the persons may enter the sack over the rail or otherwise, and other modifications in detail may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

That is claimed as new is- 1. A boom or derrick mounted for pivotal and vertical movement and provided with a sack and means at its outer end for suspendin g a life-boat, substantially as described.

2. A boom or derrick mounted for pivotal and vertical movement and provided with hoisting means combined with a sack mounted upon said boom and designed to convey a persons from a vessel carrying said boom to a lifeboat suspended from the outer end thereof, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a boom mounted for pivotal and vertical movement, of a flexible sack open at the ends and mounted upon said boom and means at the outer end of said boom for supporting a life-boat, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a vessel, of a boom pivotally mounted on said vessel and flexible sack thereon for conveying persons therefrom to a life-boat, and means for suspending a lifeboat therefrom and launching it at a distance from the vessel, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a vessel, of a boom pivotally and vertically movably mounted thereon a life-boat supported from the outer end of said boom and a flexible sack mounted I on the boom between the life-boat and the inner end thereof and adapted to form a conductor from the vessel of the life-boat, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a vessel having an opening in its side rail, of a boom pivotally and vertically movably mounted on the mast, a sack suspended from the boom, means at the outer end of the boom for supporting a lifeboat, and means for swinging the boom to bring the inner end of the sack coinstant with said opening, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JACOB GREENER. lVitnesses O. P. HOBBS, FRANK ZIMMERMAN. 

